Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law

Under Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe has devolved from a country ruled by law into one governed by brutality and corruption.

Beatrice Mtetwa, the central figure in our documentary film, is an attorney who has repeatedly risked her life to defend the victims of the Mugabe regime. Twice beaten by the police, she has used the courtroom to tirelessly defend the principle of the rule of law.

Along with Nelson Mandela, Beatrice Mtetwa is the only African to receive France’s prestigious Trarieux International Human Rights Prize. Our film is the first on her work, which will be the vehicle for conveying the idea that the rule of law underpins democracy, human dignity, social harmony, and economic progress.

The feature-length film is co-produced by Zimbabwean filmmaker, Hopewell Chin’ono, CNN’s African journalist of the year in 2009 and a Rory Peck awards finalist; Lorie Conway, a Peabody award winning filmmaker; and Andrew Meldrum, a journalist who reported from Zimbabwe for 23 years before being forcibly deported by the Mugabe regime. Thomas Mapfumo, a Zimbabwean musical legend and long-time voice of the resistance, will be interviewed and provide the music for the film.

Distribution plans for Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law includes domestic and international broadcast, theatrical release, film festivals, web based outreach, and screenings via partnerships with various organizations around the world.

Currently, we are in production as well as fundraising to continue filming with the courageous human rights attorney and some of her defendants. Through these stories will come the story of Zimbabwe–a country under the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe–and the struggle to fight back using the rule of law.